From: the Art of Moebius, published by Epic Comics. Copyright 1989 by Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc. and Starwatcher Graphics, Inc.

Moebius’s most famous hero, Arzach, flies through his strange world atop a concrete pterodactyl. A silent warrior, Arzach was first serialized in Metal Hurlant in six ground-breaking stories, published in 1974 and 1975. The Arzach strips gave Moebius a chance to try nonnarrative story- telling: breaking away from the word and letting the surrealistic visions tell their own tale.

Moebius: I’m a little like Arzach. Before Metal Hurlant, I was standing still, and it was only after that that I began to move, to stretch my wings, to fly. But I couldn’t do it by myself. I’m not a superhero! I needed a bird, figuratively, to carry me further.